Selectmen says no to opening South Maple gate
By Karen Mann JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT

The on-going issue of traffic congestion at the entranceway to Oakmont Regional High School and Overlook Middle School will now become an issue for the Ashburnham Westminster Regional School Committee to take up.

After reviewing the issue, and asking Ashburnham Police Chief Loring Barrett to study traffic patterns at Oakmont Drive and Westminster Street, the Ashburnham Board of Selectmen decided it is now up to school officials to determine what, if anything, to do.

"It seems to me the way to address this now is for the School Committee to talk about a reasonable way to address it," said Selectman Jonathan Dennehy.

Barrett sent a letter to Selectmen stating three options he thought were viable solutions. The first was to limit the amount of vehicles that have access to the area and the second option was to stagger the drop-off and pickup times at the school. The third option, increasing access to the two schools, by opening the gate on South Maple Avenue, has not received support from Selectmen.

"We don't have a say over the first two options, only the third, and we have dealt with that already," said Dennehy. "I think opening the gate is the wrong way to go."

Selectmen had a heard a proposal by Oakmont Principal David Umniski at a meeting in October that proposed opening the gate at South Maple Street for exit only traffic from 7 to 7:30 a.m. Uminski said this would help relieve the traffic congestion both on West- minster Street and within the parking are of the schools. He added the only people using South Maple would be parents that have dropped their children off at either the high and middle schools.

Selectmen had also asked Barrett if having a police officer direct traffic along Oakmont Drive and Westminster Street would be a helpful solution.

Barrett said it was done three years ago and it was determined it did not help with traffic congestion. He told Selectmen in his letter he did not think it would help to do it now either.

On top of that, he told Selectmen due to budget constraints and a shortage of manpower in the police department, town officials would have to hire a police officer, similar to hiring one for detail duty, to direct traffic at the school.

"At least we looked at that option," said Board Chairman Mark Carlisle. "The ball is passed over to them [school officials]. At least Chief Barrett was nice enough to look into it."

In Other News: • Selectmen voted to increase the hourly wage for participants of the Senior Tax- Work-Off program. In July 2008, the hourly rate will increase to the minimum wage, $7.50 per hour.

State law requires that the rate of pay for the program be at least the same amount as the state minimum wage.

• Selectmen will take a more aggressive approach to collecting outstanding ambulance bills from town residents. According to Selectman Christopher Gagnon, the town is still owed about $27,000 for ambulance services. Gagnon said ambulance service costs the patient between $600-$900, depending on what treatment was received on the way to the hospital.

"The majority looks like it is collectible," said Gagnon. "We want to remind people it is their obligation."

Gagnon worked with Fire Chief Paul Zbikowski to draft a letter that will be sent to customers with outstanding bills.

Gagnon said the letter gives them options, such as paying a small amount monthly amount, or filing a hardship form, in which selectmen can exempt the person from paying the bill. The letter informs customers if no action is taken in 30 days, town officials will pursue legal action.

"We are not being the bad guys. There are many ways to go after an unpaid bill," said Gagnon.